NEWS
Legal issues top Bowie City Council meetings
By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
The Bowie City Council took no action on a pair of executive session topics this week involving legal consultation on a personnel issue and a lawsuit.
A called meeting took place at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 9, just prior to the regularly scheduled 6 p.m. meeting. The agenda listed consultation with an attorney regarding the termination of Randy Hanson.
The veteran Bowie police officer was released on Sept. 6, 2022 for what was called “a violation of city policy.”
Neither Police Chief Guy Green or City Manager Bert Cunningham would elaborate on the release. Hanson had been with the department since January 2013 and was a lieutenant in the criminal investigation division.
Hanson filed a grievance with the city following the termination. Per city policy, a grievance committee was formed. City Manager Bert Cunningham recused himself due to family connections. Finance Director Pamela Woods and Public Works Director Stony Lowrance handled the process along with three other employees.
The manager explained Hanson wants to be paid for the time he didn’t work (the period between his termination and the hearing) and he also wants to have his F5 status on his police officer certification changed from general to honorable.
Cunningham said the committee upheld the firing. Hanson now is moving forward with an F5 hearing and also continues the push to be paid. That hearing is expected to be scheduled very soon.
The council also received an update on the McCarn vs. City of Bowie on the lakefront property on the Bowie Reservoir site of Amon Carter. No action was taken on either executive session item.
Read the full story on the council meeting in the weekend Bowie News.
Members of the Bowie City Council will face a brief agenda when they meet at 6 p.m. on Oct. 13 in the council chambers.
Following routine reports and consent agenda items, the council will consider a resolution authorizing submission of the city’s 2027/2028 Texas Community Development Block Grant application to the Texas Department of Agriculture.
Then council members will consider approving Bob Blackburn for appointment as a reserve police officer with the Bowie Police Department.
Following an executive session, the council will discuss and potentially take action regarding the annual employment evaluations and duties of both the City Secretary and the Municipal Court Judge.
After nearly three months of no rain, Mother Nature brought the showers this past week.
Downtown Bowie rain reports varied from 7 to 8 inches, while the Saint Jo area reported a 10-inch total. The city water plant in Bowie reported 5.55 inches on Sept. 30 with 1.6 Oct. 1-3.
Nocona saw a total of 6.31 inches of rain across Sept. 26 to Oct. 3.
On Oct. 6, Lake Amon G. Carter saw a level of 917.39 mean sea level rising to 81.31% full. Just one week earlier the lake was 73.6% full, while one year ago it was 94.01%. The lake is full at 920msl.
Lake Nocona was 73.7% full at 823.02 on Oct 6. One week earlier it was 70.41% full and one year ago it was 92.41%. The lake is full at 827.5 msl.
By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
One Montague County City has joined the battle against any data centers being built in this county and there is a petition drive underway to urge the commissioner’s court to keep data centers out of Montague County.
At a Sept. 28 called meeting of the Saint Jo City Council, officials unanimously approved a resolution stating its opposition to the “siting, permitting, construction or operation of data centers and similar hyperscale computing facilities within the city limits or the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.”
City Secretary Debbie Dennis said several citizens approached Councilor Jack Dunn about their data center concerns and he helped prepare a resolution. The council gave unanimous support.
Read the full story in your Thursday Bowie News.
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